Determining Your Investment Property Value

A good Real Estate Investor is constantly looking for motivated sellers that are offering deals they can make a substantial profit on. Investors have to determine what they are willing to pay for this asset without losing money in the process. There are several problems that can occur with this investment objective :

• Finding Motivated Sellers. In order to make a substantial profit, investors must offer a purchase price substantially lower than the Seller is willing to accept. If the Seller doesn't negotiate with you on price or terms you are wasting your time. Move On!
• Determining the Maximum Allowable Offer MAO. This formula allows real estate investors to determine the MAXIMUM price they can offer the seller and still make a profit.
• Determining the Property's Repairs Costs. Sellers are usually motivated to sell their property because the asset or themselves are in a state of distress. As investors purchase multiple properties they get pretty good at determining the cost to bring the property back online.
• What is the After Repair Value APR? What will be the property's value be after cleanup and repairs are done? You need comparables to assess the property's value. The Multiple Listing Service MLS is a fantastic source for retrieving sale and property information but:
  • MLS is only available to Realtor Associations.
  • You have to be a Realtor Association Member.
  • Costs money to be a member:
    • Realtor License Fee.
    • Association Membership Fees.
    • Continuing Education Fees.

What if you don't have access to the MLS to determine property comparables or COMPS? How are you going to determine a property's value if you don't have access to information about the neighborhood?

Don't Worry!

There is plenty of information on the internet. Most counties in the United States provide free data concerning all the properties they currently have on their tax rolls. We provide a page on our web site that lists Property Information and Clerk of the Court data for each of Florida's counties.

Once you have determined the following items:

• Repair Costs.
• If you are financing the deal, Principle and Interest or P&I and closing costs.
• Monthly Fees like:
  • Electricity and Water Access.
  • Insurance.
  • Taxes.
• Determine the After Repair Value APR.

you will need to plug in these numbers into the MAO formula to determine your MAXIMUM Offer Price.

YOU MUST never, never, never, ever go beyond that price or you will lose money and the MAO price is only good for 90 days! It is based on a three month window.

Related Links, Blog Postings, Presentations or Articles:

• In the very near future we will provided a short video below this blog posting that will help determine a property's After Repair Value APR in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Written by +Bob Burns.

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Never Quit! Real Estate Investor about.me/RobertKBurns Telephone #: 305-586-5280 email: sec8@planocho.com

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Did You Know a Section 8 or Plan Ocho Voucher is Portable?

While interviewing April Johnson from Miami-Dade Public Housing Agency MDPHA I heard the term "Portability" being used in our conversation. I was familiar with transferring vouchers but I never heard the term portability being used. I decided to ask her what exactly did this term mean.

April mentioned that any tenant that had a Section 8 Voucher in good standing, could live in the jurisdiction of a housing authority anywhere in the United States that is administering a tenant-based (Section 8 Voucher) program including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

But there are certain guidelines and facts that you must be aware of:

• Don't take for granted that the rules are the same for each housing authority. Each PHA has its own rules, regulations and deadlines that you must follow.
• Fair Market Rent limits or payment standards may be different for each Public Housing Office PHA. Remember they are calculated by Zip codes.
• The utility allowance may be different and may affect the rent amount you pay. Florida utility bills are much higher than Puerto Rico. I know because I lived in both places.
• Rental subsidy standards may be different. I can recall the differences in subsidy payments from Miami-Dade to Homestead Offices. These offices are in the same county.
• The new housing authority will issue you a different voucher, which may change the size (number of bedrooms) that you maybe eligible for. I can't tell you how many times this issue would come up while discussing voucher transfers.
• If you decided to transfer you have to re-verify your income and do a background check. One of my tenants was kick out of the program because her son, not her, was caught dealing drugs. You may open a can of worms for yourself.
• If you are new to the Housing Choice Voucher Program, you may have a waiting period before you can transfer to another jurisdiction of a housing authority.
• If you decide to use the portability option of your voucher, make sure you contact your home office to start the paper work. This may take a while so give yourself some time.
• Oh yeah, you better have an idea of where you want to go! Your home office can't do much if you can't tell them where you are going. You may want to visit the new housing offices so you can get an idea what will be involved and GET contact information to present to your current HOME jurisdiction.
• By moving you are going to incur changes in your cash flows; security deposit, rental down payment, different tax structure, cost of living changes, insurances, education, transportation...on and on and on.

What does "Portability" have to do with real estate investing you ask? Miami-Dade Florida is a popular destination for voucher transfers and can be another channel in your marketing efforts to get tenants into your rental properties.

Do you have any experience with Section 8 voucher transfers? If so, tell us about it in the comments area below!

Related Links, Blog Postings, Presentations or Articles:

• Section 8 Web Page. One of our most popular pages!
• Learn how to calculate Fair Market Rent for investment properties.
• Miami-Dade Public Housing Agency MDPHA Offices
• Housing Authority Of The City of Homestead Section 8 Plan Ocho Office

Written by +Bob Burns.

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No Fear Baby! Real Estate Investor about.me/RobertKBurns Telephone #: 305-586-5280 email: rkburns@investmentpropertiesmiamiflorida.com

Our Internet Footprint: